Authenticity seems more a matter of ranges and limitations than of outright prescriptions.
- Jeffrey Steingarten, The Man Who Ate Everything

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Kushigin, Cuppage Plaza

Kushigin (5 Koek Road, #01-01, Cuppage Plaza) is another Japanese establishment similar to Kazu that specialises in the charcoal grill. The decor of this little restaurant looked like traditional small Japanese eateries but the music that they were playing ranged amusingly from retro pop to stuff from the 70s. That kinda puts me off synch with the ambiance. Where this place paled in comparison with Kazu was the lack of variety. Especially the grilled items. This by no means meant that their quality was likewise lacking. In fact, the grills from Kushigin were as good if not better. Judging from the crowd at dinner, this seemed to be another one of the good eating places in Cuppage Plaza.

The menu here contains the standard fare of Japanese restaurants like tempuras, sashimis, bento dinners along with a selection of grilled meats and vegetable which I found to be enticing. There's nothing really exotic here, but the food quality was unquestionable.

garlic pork with leek

This was really much better than it looked. The hot grilled meat was literally dripping with juices and oils while dressed in nothing more than salt and pepper and crunchy leeks.

oyster wrapped in bacon

An old and common favourite, nothing much needs to be further said about bacon blanketed oysters.

garlic rice

Their garlic rice here was more subtle with the garlic flavour, but it came with fried garlic chips scattered on the top which were really fragrant.

tanaka rice

This tasted like salted vegetable fried rice. Apart from that, it was quite similar to the garlic rice.

This beef skewers were probably the least tasty of the lot. The probable reason for me was the black bean sauce which I found to be excessively salty and had a very strong ginger flavour. The result was overwhelming and made the meat unidentifiable. I'm pretty sure that I would have enjoyed this much more without the sauce.

shishamo

The shishamo looked dry on the surface but were actually quite juicy. I am guessing that now was not really the season for them since they weren't as pregnant with eggs as I would have liked. But still is good. Juicy good.

japanese pepper

The Japanese peppers looked like green chilli. The skill of grill managed to preserve some of the moisture in the vegetable while keeping the exterior dry. The flavors from the pepper were also something which I have not had before. I was told that these are really peppers from Japan. Excellent stuff I say, coming from a meat lover.

lady's finger

Bacon wrapped tomato and cheese with mint

I had no idea why the addition of mint leaves would enhance the flavor of this skewer. I personally felt that it would have tasted better without them leaves. More cheese would have been welcomed.

lamb chop

These chops were certainly a must try. The meat came scorching hot, dripping with oil from the fat and it was one of the best lambs I've had so well done. That being said, the only reason not to wolf down too many of them was the excessive fat which is quietly killing me as I flashed my greasy smile while chewing the tasty meat off the bone.

Kushigin was good, undeniably so in the department of grills. Because of variety, my vote would go to Kazu in terms of preference. But this little quest for grills is not yet done. More awaits.